Final home series for Herd's eight seniors

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- In the penultimate Conference USA series of the regular season, Marshall will welcome the East Carolina Pirates to Linda K. Epling Stadium in Beckley, W.Va., Friday through Sunday.

Herd 3, Pirates 6; Marshall Swept by ECU
A two-run seventh from the Marshall baseball team evened the score Sunday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium, but three runs from East Carolina in the bottom of the inning helped the Pirates defeat the Thundering Herd 6-3 and complete a series sweep.

Marshall (18-29, 5-13 C-USA) will face a red-hot East Carolina (26-22, 10-8 C-USA) squad which posted series wins in each of its last four weekends, including a series sweep of UAB in Birmingham, Ala. During the four-week stretch, the Pirates also defeated Tulane, Memphis, and Southern Miss.

Marshall was swept last season by the nationally-ranked Pirates as ECU won by way of a walkoff in game two before scoring three runs in the seventh inning of a tie ballgame to surge ahead in the finale.

This season, East Carolina is the C-USA leader in home runs (29), hits (456), and slugging percentage (.381). The Pirates rank second to Rice in overall average (.275).

Individually, pitcher/DH Drew Reynolds leads the Pirates in overall average, batting .324 at the dish while collecting a league-best 12 saves on the bump. Third baseman Zach Houchins is batting .303 with 15 doubles, five homers, and 34 RBI’s.

For Marshall, sophomore Andrew Dundon and senior Isaac Ballou continue their battle for the team lead in hitting. Dundon, who led Marshall from the beginning of March all the way through the middle of April, sits at .310 currently while Ballou is .309. Ballou’s 56 hits this season is ninth-best in C-USA.

Ballou also ranks third in doubles with 14 and is one of the main reasons Marshall is third in C-USA in that category.